I'm an isolationist in the gym. I look at a muscle (group), and break it down into sections - and then try to figure out the best/most available ways of getting at those sections.

You'll find there's another camp though - one that says that big, compound exercises are the way to go. That you need only to very few exercises to achieve results.

Keep at it and discover which suits you best.

Excellent. I can make this a long term part of my life, but I've got too many other interests to devote a huge amount of time to it (I'm never going to be this dude in the video). So my thinking, and I may be wrong, is that I should probably focus on simple natural movements that hit large groups of muscles evenly. That way once I get into shape I can maintain it, without becoming a total gym rat, which realistically I can't do.

That said, I'm dedicating 2013 to this and taking it seriously. I want to get there, which is going to be work, and then switch into maintenance mode.

When we start chatting about this sort of stuff online, terminology can be pretty important. When you say "huge amount of time", or "gym rat" or "natural movements"... I wonder if we're thinking of the same things.

I spend about 5 hours in the gym per week. No idea if that is a lot to you, but it seems reasonable to me. However, I spend a fair amount of time eating per day... around 6 times... so for some people, that might be in the 'gym rat' type of category.

Honestly, if this was 'back home', I'd suggest you tagging along with someone who knows. Someone with a lot of experience, and they can walk you through some basics... and then you can fine tune to your needs.

Kimchininja, I highly recommend checking out Starting Strength or Stronglifts 5x5. There are a couple others too (Practical Strength Programming I think?). The differences in the program seem to be minor to me, but some people are very religious about them (that might be an internet thing).

I'm following a hybrid of the first two right now, basically Starting Strength with back rows substituted for power cleans, and a different rest day pattern since I'm a runner as well.

It's too early to talk about results for me, but it seems like it also might be what you're looking for. The programs are based on doing three main compound exercises a work-out, three workouts a week, with rest days in between. Both Starting Strengths And Stronglifts involve squats every workout so even though the programs are aimed at beginners, they're very intensive.

It's funny, cuz I don't think I could do that. If I do squats (bench.. or basically any lifting), that body part is wrecked for anywhere from 3-7 days. Wrecked in a good way, of course, but wrecked nonetheless. I honestly have troubles imagining me doing the same body part more than twice a week.

It's funny, cuz I don't think I could do that. If I do squats (bench.. or basically any lifting), that body part is wrecked for anywhere from 3-7 days. Wrecked in a good way, of course, but wrecked nonetheless. I honestly have troubles imagining me doing the same body part more than twice a week.

Yeah, I think the key to these programs are they are meant for beginners and take advantage of their lack of conditioning. They are meant to progress very quickly over a few weeks or months by adding more weight on the bar each work-out until they start to stall, and then they have a few tricks left when that starts to happen using de-loading and some basic accessory exercises added in.

I decided to use the 'Starting Strength' program as a template for a couple of reasons. Before, I found I was spinning my wheels doing too many exercises and over-thinking it. I think the simplicity of the program (5 exercises total) and that they're a really efficient form of exercise really suit me right now. I also liked that there was a heavy emphasis on form over using heavy weights in the beginning.

It's very early for me, but I can say one thing, it's at least helping me get over the psychological barrier of lifting heavy weight.

^ Thanks, going to check these programs out today. Just skimming my first reaction was the same, wow hit the same group every day? But going to read more today and see what I can learn from it.

OKAY! So this morning carbed up more than I normally do, slammed thru a full hour, 10min stretch, 40min workout, 10min stretch and had plenty of energy. Protein drink after + sugar. And now eating an early lunch of brown rice + grilled chicken breast (even though I'm not super hungry). This is the component I was missing; not enough post carb/protein.

The workout was more thorough than my typical casual 20min bam done routine. Decided to split the body into 6 muscle groups and 4 do movements for each group. So today I hit 3 of the 6 muscle groups (chest, arms, shoulder); chest for example was bench (main), incline (upper), butterfly (lower), close hand push ups (inner). I may be wrong about what areas those are hitting, still working it out and trying to a find a few movements that do the most good. Anyhow that's 12 movements to master and get perfect form and then on day two I do another 12 movements that hit the other 3 muscle groups.

All this will get refined as I figure out what works for me, and uuhh what the heck I'm doing, but gotta say it felt great today.

Off topic there are a lot of Koreans at the gym who are really quite scrawny, like their arm might snap from lifting the dumbbell off the floor. I want to say hey guys have some milk or something please!!!

That said the gym has one Super-Korean. Like this is the guy the secret government agency gave the Captain America/Wolverine experimental injection. Dude is the kinda guy who just walks down the street and chicks out of nowhere try to leap onto his [mod edit]. Turns out he's a bodybuilder and does competitions or whatever. Since the guy freakin' lives there maybe he'll show me some moves.

@ Captain Corea: Beginner SL has you lifting 3x a week 5 sets of 5 reps. intermediate Stronglifts calls for 3x a week, but 3 sets of 5 reps. When you transition to advance, you lift 2x a week. So the farther you progress, the less sets/frequency of workouts it becomes. At least that's how I understood the program to be.

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Yeah, one way that I like to 'divide' my body... especially upper body, is push/pull.

By day 1, day 2, do you mean push exercises day 1, pull exercises day 2? Or mix push with pull for day 1, and another mix for day 2?

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Cool idea, but gotta take three different subways so it's tough.

I'd seriously recommend you take him up on this offer at least once, if not at least once a month if you can make time. Much better to have an English speaker who knows what he's doing show you the ropes. Get all the information you can as to proper set up/proper form and practice it so you have an idea of what you should be doing and what you need to fix. Sure you can ask the bodybuilder in your gym, but his lack of English/his different lifting protocol can mess up beginners.

This is a good read about your question on the effects of alcohol and staying fit. I learned a lot from this article.

Squats vs Leg Press. If you do one is there really a need to do the other? Are they working the exact same muscle groups?

No. Squats > Leg Press for lower body workout and strength building.

On squats you also develop balance since you have to balance the bar and you have a freer range of motion. Freeweights in general are also better for your joints in the long run. Leg presses are an assistance workout. You don't see power lifters and football players doing tons of leg presses.

Squats vs Leg Press. If you do one is there really a need to do the other? Are they working the exact same muscle groups?

No. Squats > Leg Press for lower body workout and strength building.

On squats you also develop balance since you have to balance the bar and you have a freer range of motion. Freeweights in general are also better for your joints in the long run. Leg presses are an assistance workout. You don't see power lifters and football players doing tons of leg presses.

Yup, leg presses don't compare to squats, and because of the balancing and the controlled up and down movement needed for squats, it also utilizes all your upper body muscles as well.

As for the lifting program with 3X a week bench/squat/whatever, I wonder if silkhighway has it right - that's it's designed to lay down a structure for beginners. I'm curious how ppl would find it.

I should mention the only lift that is done 3 times a week is squatting. Every other lift is done once a week, and even then there's only one set of deadlifts instead of the 3 or 5 as for the other exercises.